In December 2015, Telnaes created an animated political cartoon that responded to an ad for the presidential campaign of U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, in which his 5- and 7-year old daughters appeared. The older daughter spoke in the ad, reading a line from a book called "The Grinch Who Lost Her Emails" in which she referenced the Grinch's use of a private email server — an obvious reference to the Hillary Clinton email controversy.[4] In her cartoon, Telnaes portrayed the daughters of the senator as monkeys on leashes, with Cruz holding the leashes and grinding an organ.[5] In response to complaints, Telnaes then posted a comment that the Cruz children were "fair game" for her cartoon because "Ted Cruz uses his children as political props."[6]Washington Post editor Fred Hiatt eventually retracted and deleted the cartoon and replaced it with the statement that "It's generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree."[7] Telnaes' "fair game" comment was also deleted.

Telnaes tweeted "Ted Cruz has put his children in a political ad — don't start screaming when editorial cartoonists draw them as well," and retweeted a link to an article titled, "Organ Grinders and Their Monkeys Once Entertained on DC Sidewalks."[8][9]